Looking for advice

I am looking to get a 1994 thru 1996 Park Ave. to use as a vehicle for my job. Then in a few years, pass it on to my teenagers to use for school. I will be putting about 400 to 600 miles a week on it for a while. I hope to find a Park Ave. with the Supercharged engine. I have heard these engines have problems with either the heads or leaking gaskets. Is this true, and are there any other major concerns with these cars?

I have a '94 Mark VIII that has a good amount of giddy-up and go, so I am hoping this Park will have close to the same performance.

I had an '87 LeSabre several years back, and that car was practically bulletproof. I have primarily been a Ford man, but I have heard these 3.8 engines are fairly good.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Dean

Every teenager in the world, will disagree with me, but as a 16 year old, I will say the park avanue is THE best car for a teen to have. Some would say it's styling is dated, but it looks classy to me. It is like a supercharged sofa to drive down the road.

As for the head gaskets, it all depends on how rough of a life the vehicle has had. If it's been well treated, expect 200,000 and up for longevity of these cars.

Pricing is awesome to, you can pick a 96 ultra up for around 5500.

The car will have enough power to get you out of trouble, but not too much so that you get in trouble!

Hope this helped!

Thanks for the quick reply!

Man, when I was 16, I would drive just about anything! I drove my mother's '69 Fairlane Station Wagon to high school. We didn't care too much about what others thought because we were too cool!

I know a guy who drives his mom's 79 Toyota corona station wagon. The thing is puke brown, and is sounds like the engine is ready to quit.

Dean -

They will make a great car for a teen. I drove an Olds 98 at 16 and loved it. With regards to the gaskets leaking, etc. According to another contributer on this thread they won't leak if it is taken care of. That is an absolute FALSE statement. I have had TWO ParkAvenues that I pampered and babied, and BOTH had to have lower intakes, upper plenum, and new heads. My 2nd one had to have it done at 45K miles. It is a KNOWN problem, so just go into it knowing that it MIGHT have to have this work done. If not, you are one of the lucky ones!!! Good Luck!

another contributer on this thread
You can say my screenname, its tman2093. If you prefer my real name, it's Anthony.

As for the problems, the pre-1991 park aves were indeed known for leaky head gaskets. The 96, had the newer engine, which is only common to have the plastic plenum melt. I'm not sure which years your two park aves were, as you didn't specify. Let me explain the engines in the early 90's park aves.

1991
Base-Series I NA 3.8
Ultra-Series I NA 3.8 (optional Series I supercharged 3.8, very rare)

1992-1994
Base-Series I NA 3.8
Ultra-Series I supercharged 3.8

1995
Base-Series II NA 3.8
Ultra-Series I supercharged 3.8

1996
Base-Series II NA 3.8
Ultra-Series II supercharged 3.8

In 1995, the new NA 3.8 was introduced, in 1996, the car was completly Series II 3.8s. I specifically reccommended a 96, didn't I?

I recommend the Pak Ave any day over the Lincoln! 30 MPG on the highway and comfortable with enough power. With all you have planned for it, I'd stick with the simpler non-supercharged version. I have a 95 w/ a 97 engine and had a 91 Ultra (no S/C). Love them both. TMAN can help with the years, but I'd buy an all-metal engine car, or later plastic/metal engine car. While the 1st year or so of the plastic intakes melted, my 97 has the upgrade, but still leaked a little around the throttle body. Easy fix though. I have 130K on the chassis, and about 70 on the engine. Since I'm fanatical about my cars, I've put Monroe Reflex's all around, TRW variable rate's in rear and Yoko Avid Touring's, among other parts...and it rides and handles very well. I put a Bosch O2 sensor, wires and Plat +4's when I changed the engine, and added a medium size transcooler later...so it runs well, too. Don't know a lot about the supercharged versions, other than they get expensive when they get old.

I totally agree with PAman. I have worked for various Gm dealers over the last 27 years and picked a 95 PA for my own car. I bought it last year with 16000 miles (cars.com). I plan to retire within a year and travel the country. Can't beat the ride, trunk room, comfort and great gas mileage. I had a 89 Olds Regency that was a low mileage trade-in and gave it to my son for college. He ran 80,000 miles in 4 years and except for lots of brake jobs (probably due to his size 13 Rebocks) was a reliable and safe car.

Thanks for all the help! I really appreciate y'all's knowledge and generosity.

I will keep these facts in mind in addition to any further help that gets added to this thread.

Dean

Tman -

I didn't use your screen name just because I was too lazy to go back up and look for it when I was replying. I know you listed specific years............BUT.................there is current a recall on as new a PA as 2003 for this problem. I received mail stating the reacll # from my local dealer and will look for it tonight. ANY GM person will tell you that these 3800 are great engines except for the coolant problems. there are a few that don't have problems, but the MAJORITY of them DO have problems, or develop them. That was all I was saying. If you buy a car with a 3800 no matter HOW NEW, just go into it knowing that this is a problem that has never been corrected (obviously they are still producing them with the plastic plenum). They are great cars. Why else would I have bought another one???? thanks for your input. It is great to get a variety of opinions!!!

My two PA's were a 95 and a 98 The 95 ended up having to replace the engine because it hydro-locked 3 time before they got it rightand by then it had thrown a piston rod, bent a valve - a royal mess. It was 3800 series II also

the 98 has a 3800 series II and had to have everything replace from the bottom up at 48K miles.

as with all cars you get good ones and you get bad ones. I just happened to get 3 bad ones in a row!!!! Don;t EVEN get me started on my Lincoln Continental!!!!!! LOL

Mike